Toyota is investing heavily into Pony.ai, a Chinese autonomous driving company, in an extension of a business partnership that was formed last August, when both parties initiated joint autonomous driving pilot programmes in China. The new funding, which totals US$462 million, brings Pony.ai’s valuation to over US$3 billion, the company said in a statement.
Both companies are set to further advance their joint efforts in autonomous driving technology development and mobility service deployment. Aside from enabling deeper integration of Pony.ai’s autonomous driving system in Toyota vehicle platforms, the collaboration will also delve beyond vehicles to explore further possibilities on mobility services.
The Chinese start-up, which was established in 2016, has been testing its Robotaxi pilot service called PonyPilot since late 2018 in Guangzhou, China, and says it is the first company to have launched a service offering self-driving car rides to the public in China.
In November last year, the company also rolled out a public-facing Robotaxi pilot service in the United States. The pilot service, called BotRide, kicked off in Irvine, California with Hyundai Kona Electric SUVs kitted out with sensor hardware and Pony.ai’s proprietary autonomous navigation software. Another pilot programme in the state, in Fremont, was recently announced.
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